Especificidade do parasitóide Apanteles militaris (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) em relação ao hospedeiro Mythimna unipuncta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

IV Encontro Nacional de Protecção Integrada, 3–4 Outubro, 1997, Angra do Heroísmo, Açores.Apanteles militaris (Walsh) é o mais importante parasitóide larvar de Mythimna unipuncta (Haworth) em todas as ilhas dos Açores. Pretendendo-se saber do modo de actuação deste parasitóide larvícola, procedeu-se ao estudo semanal da sua abundância e à do seu hospedeiro natural. Numa tentativa de compreender onde se encontra este parasitóide durante o Invermo, realizámos ensaios de parasitismo, em condições controladas, utilizando como hospedeiro larvas de Noctua pronuba L., Peridroma saucia (Hb), Xestia c-nigrum (L.), Spodoptera litoralis B., Agrotis ipsilon (Hüf.), Heliothis armigera (Hb.), Sesamia nonagrioides (Lef.), Autographa gamma (L.) e Pieris brassicae azorensis Rebel. Estes Lepidópteros foram seleccionados por existirem nos biótopos que são ocupados por M. unipuncta, apresentarem uma densidade importante nas condições ambientais dos Açores ou por serem hospedeiros de parasitóides pertencentes ao mesmo género. Para além de M. unipuncta, apenas S. nonagrioides e A. gamma apresentaram uma percentagem muito reduzida de larvas efectivamente parasitadas, 10 e 12,5%, respectivamente. Assim, a população açoreana de A. militaris apresenta uma grande especificidade em relação ao seu hospedeiro natural

Does using a foreign language reduce mental imagery?

In a recent article, Hayakawa and Keysar (2018) propose that mental imagery is less vivid when evoked in a foreign than in a native language. The authors argue that reduced mental imagery could even account for moral foreign language effects, whereby moral choices become more utilitarian when made in a foreign language. Here we demonstrate that Hayakawa and Keysar's (2018) key results are better explained by reduced language comprehension in a foreign language than by less vivid imagery. We argue that the paradigm used in Hayakawa and Keysar (2018) does not provide a satisfactory test of reduced imagery and we discuss an alternative paradigm based on recent experimental developments

No evidence for embodiment: The motor system is not needed to keep action words in working memory

Increasing evidence implicates the sensorimotor systems with high-level cognition, but the extent to which these systems play a functional role remains debated. Using an elegant design, Shebani and Pulvermüller (2013) reported that carrying out a demanding rhythmic task with the hands led to selective impairment of working memory for hand-related words (e.g., clap), while carrying out the same task with the feet led to selective memory impairment for foot-related words (e.g., kick). Such a striking double dissociation is acknowledged even by critics to constitute strong evidence for an embodied account of working memory. Here, we report on an attempt at a direct replication of this important finding. We followed a sequential sampling design and stopped data collection at N=77 (more than five times the original sample size), at which point the evidence for the lack of the critical selective interference effect was very strong (BF01 = 91). This finding constitutes strong evidence against a functional contribution of the motor system to keeping action words in working memory. Our finding fits into the larger emerging picture in the field of embodied cognition that sensorimotor simulations are neither required nor automatic in high-level cognitive processes, but that they may play a role depending on the task. Importantly, we urge researchers to engage in transparent, high-powered, and fully pre-registered experiments like the present one to ensure the field advances on a solid basis

Synchronization in Von Bertalanffy’s models

Many data have been useful to describe the growth of marine mammals, invertebrates and reptiles, seabirds, sea turtles and fishes, using the logistic, the Gom-pertz and von Bertalanffy's growth models. A generalized family of von Bertalanffy's maps, which is proportional to the right hand side of von Bertalanffy's growth equation, is studied and its dynamical approach is proposed. The system complexity is measured using Lyapunov exponents, which depend on two biological parameters: von Bertalanffy's growth rate constant and the asymptotic weight. Applications of synchronization in real world is of current interest. The behavior of birds ocks, schools of fish and other animals is an important phenomenon characterized by synchronized motion of individuals. In this work, we consider networks having in each node a von Bertalanffy's model and we study the synchronization interval of these networks, as a function of those two biological parameters. Numerical simulation are also presented to support our approaches

Preoperative physical performance as predictor of postoperative outcomes in patients aged 65 and older scheduled for major abdominal cancer surgery:A systematic review

Background: Abdominal cancer surgery is associated with considerable morbidity in older patients. Assessment of preoperative physical status is therefore essential. The aim of this review was to describe and compare the objective physical tests that are currently used in abdominal cancer surgery in the older patient population with regard to postoperative outcomes. Methods: Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science were searched until 31 December 2020. Non-interventional cohort studies were eligible if they included patients ≥65 years undergoing abdominal cancer surgery, reported results on objective preoperative physical assessment such as Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET), field walk tests or muscle strength, and on postoperative outcomes. Results: 23 publications were included (10 CPET, 13 non-CPET including Timed Up & Go, grip strength, 6-minute walking test (6MWT) and incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT)). Meta-analysis was precluded due to heterogeneity between study cohorts, different cut-off points, and inconsistent reporting of outcomes. In CPET studies, ventilatory anaerobic threshold and minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production gradient were associated with adverse outcomes. ISWT and 6MWT predicted outcomes in two studies. Tests addressing muscle strength and function were of limited value. No study compared different physical tests. Discussion: CPET has the ability to predict adverse postoperative outcomes, but it is time-consuming and requires expert assessment. ISWT or 6MWT might be a feasible alternative to estimate aerobic capacity. Muscle strength and function tests currently have limited value in risk prediction. Future research should compare the predictive value of different physical instruments with regard to postoperative outcomes in older surgical patients

Predictive validity of a two-step tool to map frailty in primary care

Background EASY-Care Two step Older people Screening (EASY-Care TOS) is a stepped approach to identify frail older people at risk for negative health outcomes in primary care, and makes use of General Practitioners’ (GPs) readily-available information. We aimed to determine the predictive value of EASY-Care TOS for negative health outcomes within the year from assessment. Methods A total of 587 patients of four GP practices in and around Nijmegen (The Netherlands) consented to participate in a longitudinal primary care registry based cohort study. Participants’ frailty was judged by their GP following the EASY-Care TOS procedure and by a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) at baseline. After one year health outcomes of the participants were measured by reassessment with the EASY-Care TOS procedure. Results Follow up information was available for 520 of 587 participants. In the non-frail group 9 % showed any negative health outcomes (death, ADL decline, institutionalisation, too ill to undergo assessment), against 30 % in the frail group (95 % confidence interval of the difference (CI): 14 %–28 %). Area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of the EASY-Care TOS frailty judgement for a composite of negative health outcomes mentioned was 0.67 (95 % CI: 0.62-0.73). Compared with discrimination on the basis of age, sex and GP practice (AUC 0.70), adding EASY-Care TOS frailty judgement increased the AUC to 0.75 (+0.05, p = 0.02). The AUC on the basis of a full CGA is almost comparable to the AUC of the model with age, sex, and frailty judgement with EASY-Care TOS: 0.76 (+0.07, p = 0.005). Conclusions GPs applying the EASY-Care TOS procedure, where they only perform additional assessment when they judge this as necessary, can predict negative health outcomes in their older populations efficiently and almost as accurately as a complete specialist CGA

Aspartame and Phe-Containing Degradation Products in Soft Drinks across Europe

Phenylketonuria and tyrosinemia type 1 are treated with dietary phenylalanine (Phe) restriction. Aspartame is a Phe-containing synthetic sweetener used in many products, including many 'regular' soft drinks. Its amount is (often) not declared; therefore, patients are advised not to consume aspartame-containing foods. This study aimed to determine the variation in aspartame concentrations and its Phe-containing degradation products in aspartame-containing soft drinks. For this, an LC-MS/MS method was developed for the analysis of aspartame, Phe, aspartylphenylalanine, and diketopiperazine in soft drinks. In total, 111 regularly used soft drinks from 10 European countries were analyzed. The method proved linear and had an inter-assay precision (CV%) below 5% for aspartame and higher CVs% of 4.4-49.6% for the degradation products, as many concentrations were at the limit of quantification. Aspartame and total Phe concentrations in the aspartame-containing soft drinks varied from 103 to 1790 µmol/L (30-527 mg/L) and from 119 to 2013 µmol/L (20-332 mg/L), respectively, and were highly variable among similar soft drinks bought in different countries. Since Phe concentrations between drinks and countries highly vary, we strongly advocate the declaration of the amount of aspartame on soft drink labels, as some drinks may be suitable for consumption by patients with Phe-restricted diets